PFLP rejects occupiers’ “ceasefire”

Olmert’s “ceasefire” speech is a declaration of defeat

The “ceasefire” speech by Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert on January 17, 2009 is a declaration of defeat, said the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in a press statement, noting that halting the airstrikes and keeping the Israeli occupation army troops on the ground is not a “ceasefire” and stating that the occupation forces will be a continual target for the resistance so long as they are in Gaza.

Comrade Dr. Maher al-Taher, member of the Political Bureau of the PFLP and leader of its branch in exile, said in an interview with Al-Jazeera that “the criminal Olmert’s speech is a speech of defeat, and is a great victory for the resistance and for the steadfastness of our people in the Gaza Strip.” He stressed that this is a historical achievement for the Palestinian people and called for building upon this victory for the next stage of fighting back against the occupier.

Comrade Taher said, the enemy occupied our land in six days in 1967, but today they fail to occupy a corner of Gaza City, and this is a new stage and a tribute to the steadfastness of our people and our resistance. We must draw lessons from these accomplishments – that our clear political line and our national unity can be achieved on the basis of the continuation of the resistance and a political strategy that ends all reliance on the United States, Annapolis, the roadmap and Oslo, and all illegitimate and empty agreements with the occupation. Our people instead need a clear strategy based on our Palestinian national principles as raised by Palestinian prisoners in their national reconciliation document.

He noted further that the building of the massive of international popular solidarity and support for the Palestinian people, particularly as the brutality and crimes of the occupation has been revealed, has been a major force in support of our people, and that the people of the world are rejecting the occupier, rejecting Zionism, and rejecting this system as unacceptable, illegitimate and criminal.

Comrade Taher concluded by saying that the steadfastness of our people in Gaza sent a clear message to the leaders of Zionist terrorism, the official Arab regimes and the entire world that the will of our people has not been broken, and it cannot be defeated nor will it abandon the resistance under any circumstances.

The PFLP also condemned the so-called “memorandum of understanding” between the U.S. and Israel, saying that the occupier is only talking to itself, and that this is an “agreement” between strategic partners in the enemy camp. It stated further that this agreement is a new aggression against the Palestinian and Arab peoples, which aims to deny their right to defend themselves and resist occupation and aggression, and furthermore, to deny Arab sovereignty over our own borders and our own land.